Bishop Larry Silva returned to Honolulu yesterday bearing with him the most precious of carry-ons: a relic of newly canonized St. Damien de Veuster.

Silva, who attended the canonization ceremony in Rome, presented a wooden reliquary containing a bone to the Rev. Lane Akiona upon his arrival.

Akiona then took the relic to the Big Island, where it will begin a two-week tour of the state before returning to Honolulu on Nov. 1 for permanent housing at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace.

"(The relic) is going to enhance people's devotion to Father Damien, but with that has to come an enhancement of their devotion to God," Silva said. "Without that, it's idolatry — and Damien would be very upset with that. We want this to inspire people to work for the homeless and those who are sick in the spirit of Father Damien."

Silva's journey home was facilitated by Hawaiian Airlines, which arranged for Silva to speed through check-ins and security stations (The reliquary was still subject to security screening).

Silva said he kept the box securely stored in an overhead compartment as he traveled from Rome to Detroit to San Francisco to Honolulu.

"I had to keep pinching myself," said Silva, whose great-grandfather and great-aunt once lived in the Kalaupapa community Damien served. "I kept asking myself how this happened to me, why was I blessed to be able to bring a part of Father Damien back to Hawaii ."

The relic was presented to Silva by Belgium's Cardinal Godfried Danneels. While there was no specific meaning attached to the bone, Silva said he reflected on its significance and was reminded of a passage from the Bible.

"In Isaiah 52, it says, 'How beautiful are the feet that bring good news,' " Silva said. "I think Father Damien brought good news for the people of Hawaii."

A brief ceremony at the arrivals terminal drew a throng of curious onlookers yesterday. Those on the flight said they were unaware that they were traveling with a piece of history.

TheRev. John Schroedel of the St. Juvenaly Orthodox Mission in Holualoa realized that something special was happening when he stepped out of the exit chute only to be confronted with a line of television cameras.

Though of a different faith, Schroedel said he felt honored to be in the presence of Damien's relic.

"The Eastern Orthodox community also values relics, and both the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church have deep sympathy with the Hawaiian understanding of the significance of bones," he said. "For us, the spirit and the body are not separate. We believe the person is present in body and their spirit."

Silva said the return of the relic to Honolulu on Nov. 1 will be observed with a special service at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, where Damien was ordained, and an interfaith ceremony at Iolani Palace.